With the regular season starting to wind down, they're providing a strong reminder that they can play pretty stingy defense, too.

Bryan Bickell scored in the first period, and Ray Emery made 20 saves and the Blackhawks beat the Nashville Predators 1-0 Saturday for their third win in four games.

"That's a team that you've really got to play some boring hockey against," Emery said of Nashville. "You just try to be in good defensive position and take advantage when you get the opportunity. And I thought we played that strategy to a T tonight."

Chicago improved to 12-0-1 against the Central Division this season and moved closer to clinching a playoff berth.

The Blackhawks won their third against Nashville this season and second in six days. They'll have a chance at their third in a week Sunday night in Chicago as these teams wrap up a back-to-back.

Emery posted his second shutout and the 13th of his career, and Chicago improved to 16-3-4 in one-goal games this season. Chicago coach Joel Quenneville called Emery rock solid in doing what he had to do for the shutout.

"I thought he was in control around the net against that team," Quenneville said. "There are a lot of scrambles, a lot of loose stuff. They create traffic, and I thought he found pucks and froze them and looked very big."

Chicago came in needing just four points to clinch that playoff berth. Now Blackhawks could clinch before taking the ice Sunday with losses by a couple other teams.

With the afternoon faceoff, enough of the Blackhawks' faithful got a flight to Nashville to make it feel like the United Center chanting, "Let's go Hawks" even before the puck dropped. The arena was packed with 17,256 fans in attendance in a building whose capacity is listed at 17,113.

April 28: Ottawa Senators center Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored the tiebreaking goal, and added an assist in the 4-2 win over the Boston Bruins. The win solidified the Senators as a No. 7 seed heading into the playoffs.
Bob DeChiara, USA TODAY Sports

April 27: New York Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist had 20 saves against the New Jersey Devils in his second shutout of the season. With the Rangers 4-0 win, they avoided meeting the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first round of the playoffs.
Debby Wong, USA TODAY Sports

April 27: Pittsburgh Penguins left wing James Neal Neal completed a hat trick during the third period against the Carolina Hurricanes. The Pittsburgh Penguins won 8-3.
Charles LeClaire, USA TODAY Sports

April 25: After only two and a half months removed from a torn Achilles tendon, Erik Karlsson returned to the ice for the Ottawa Senators, who defeated the Washington Capitals 2-1 to clinch a playoff spot.
Geoff Burke, USA TODAY Sports

April 25: Columbus right wing Cam Atkinson scored two goals in the Blue Jackets' win over the Dallas Stars. The win was crucial, as Columbus remains in playoff contention.
Jerome Miron, USA TODAY Sports

April 24: Mike Smith, whose Phoenix Coyotes were eliminated before the game started, made 33 saves, including this one against Joe Thornton, to beat the San Jose Sharks.
Matt Kartozian, USA TODAY Sports

April 21: There will not be a better top performance this season, as the Boston Bruins as a whole defeated the Panthers 3-0. It was the Bruins' first victory since the tragic events that plagued the city over the past week.
Winslow Townson, USA TODAY Sports

April 21: LA's Dustin Brown had two goals in the Kings' 4-3 win over the Dallas Stars. The win gave the Kings sole possession of fourth place in the West, and a better shot at home-ice advantage for the first round of the playoffs.
Gary A. Vasquez, USA TODAY Sports

April 18: New York Islanders forward John Tavares had two goals and one assist in the 5-4 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs. New York's win prevented Toronto from clinching a playoff birth.
John E. Sokolowski, USA TODAY Sports

April 19: New Jersey Devils goalie Martin Brodeur recorded his 121st shutout in the 3-0 win over the Philadelphia Flyers. The win brought New Jersey's 10-game losing streak to a halt.
Eric Hartline, USA TODAY Sports

April 16: Winnipeg's Andrew Ladd celebrates after scoring against Tampa Bay. Ladd scored twice, notched an assist and netted the decisive goal in a shootout in a 4-3 win over the Lightning.
Trevor Hagan, AP

April 12: Blackhawks left wing Brandon Saad had the game-winning goal in a shootout against the Detroit Red Wings. Chicago's win clinched the Central division for the first time since 2010, when the Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup.
Rob Grabowski, USA TODAY Sports

April 10: Vancouver Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo wasn't supposed to start, but Cory Schneider came down with the flu. Luongo, making his first start since March 18, had 40 saves in a 4-1 win against the Calgary Flames.
Sergei Belski, USA TODAY Sports

April 10: Boston Bruins center Gregory Campbell, middle, moved up to the top line because of injuries, scored twice, one a short-handed goal, in a 5-4 win against the New Jersey Devils.
Julio Cortez, AP

April 10: Colorado goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere's contribution to the Avalanche's 4-1 shocker against the Anaheim Ducks came days earlier when he ripped his teammates' work ethic. That sparked the last-place team and Giguere made 21 saves in the victory.
Kirby Lee, USA TODAY Sports

April 9: Pittsburgh right wing Pascal Dupuis scored a goal and notched two assists in a 5-3 win over the Hurricanes. Dupuis and the Penguins clinched the Atlantic Division title.
James Guillory, USA TODAY Sports

April 9: Columbus goalie Sergei Bobrovsky makes a kick save against the Sharks. Bobrovsky stopped 30 shots and earned his fourth shutout of the season in a 4-0 win over San Jose.
Russell LaBounty, USA TODAY Sports

April 8: Anaheim Ducks right wing Radek Dvorak scored both goals in a 2-1 win against the Edmonton Oilers. He has three goals in five games since signing out of Europe.
Gary A. Vasquez, USA TODAY Sports

April 7: Chicago Blackhawks right wing Patrick Kane (88) scored an empty net goal against the Nashville Predators in a 5-3 win. Kane and the rest of the Blackhawks are the first team in the NHL to clinch a playoff spot this season.
Rob Grabowski, USA TODAY Sports

April 5: Jussi Jokinen of the Pittsburgh Penguins joined his new team via trade earlier this week. Jokinen scored one goal in regulation, then tallied the only score in a shootout in the 2-1 win over the Rangers.
Justin K. Aller, Getty Images

April 4: Newly-acquired veteran Jaromir Jagr scored the lone goal for the Boston Bruins in a 1-0 win over New Jersey. The 41-year-old forward was traded from Dallas earlier in the week.
Michael Ivins, USA TODAY Sports

April 4: Tampa Bay goalie Ben Bishop recorded a career-high 45 saves in his first appearance with the Lightning. Thanks to the shutout, Tampa was able to defeat the Carolina Hurricanes 5-0.
James Guillory, USA TODAY Sports

April 4: Columbus forward Marian Gaborik had the go-ahead goal and added an assist in his first game with the Blue Jackets. After being acquired from the New York Rangers earlier in the week, Gaborik led Columbus to a 3-1 win over Nashville.
Mark Humphrey AP

April 3: In his first game in a Rangers jersey, Ryan Clowe received the first star of the game award. Clowe scored his first two goals of the season in a 6-1 win over Pittsburgh.
Debby Wong, USA TODAY Sports

March 30: Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Tomas Vokoun salutes the crowd after shutting out the New York Islanders, 2-0. Vokoun made 35 saves and earned his second straight shutout.
Charles LeClaire, USA TODAY Sports

March 30: Edmonton Oilers left wing Taylor Hall, right, celebrates his goal with teammate Corey Potter, left. Hall had a hat trick by 7:53 of the first period, breaking Wayne Gretzky's record for fastest hat trick from the start of a game.
Jason Franson, AP

March 29; Dallas Stars right wing Jaromir Jagr had one assist and a secondary one at that. But it made him the first European with 1,000 assists and helped end the Minnesota Wild's seven-game winning streak.
Jerome Miron, USA TODAY Sports

March 28: New York right wing Colin McDonald, middle, scored twice for the Islanders, who would go on to defeat the Philadelphia Flyers in a shootout. New York improved to 10-4-1 on the road with the win.
Eric Hartline, USA TODAY Sports

March 28: Phoenix's Rostislav Klesla aided the Coyotes' 7-4 blowout against the Nashville Predators by tallying four assists. The Coyotes used a huge first period to trounce the Preds, ending their seven-game losing streak.
Mark Humphrey, AP

March 26: Carolina defenseman Jamie McBain helped Evander Kane notch a goal when he scored on his own net. Kane also added three assists in Winnipeg's 4-1 win over the Hurricanes.
James Guillory, USA TODAY Sports

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The Predators are the Western Conference's only team to reach the semifinals each of the past two seasons, but desperately needed a win with only nine games left.

Instead, Nashville lost its second straight and fourth in five games playing Saturday without center Paul Gaustad, whose upper body injury will keep him out at least a couple more games along with left wing Gabriel Bourque and forward Colin Wilson, who's been out since March 9.

"A few deletions obviously at the trade deadline so we're a little thin," Nashville coach Barry Trotz said. "But guys gave it everything they had, and we almost got that thing tied up."

They had their chances in the third with a double minor when Daniel Carcillo high-sticked Nashville captain Shea Weber, nicking the defenseman's nose and drawing blood at 7:58 of the third.

But the Blackhawks improved to 16 of their past 16 penalty kills. Patric Hornqvist poked away a would-be empty netter by Chicago right wing Michael Frolik with 1:30 left as he slid into the goal post knocking it off its moorings.

Nashville took its timeout only to see Emery stop several chances including a wraparound pass from Taylor Beck to Hornqvist. Brandon Yip was just wide of the net before the final horn.

Predators goalie Pekka Rinne called it a tough loss.

"Obviously you know the standings and everything, but you try not to look at it right now," Rinne said. "You try to focus on one game at a time. Now it's tomorrow night, and it is not going to get any easier. We have a pretty big task on our hands if we want to make it and we have to start winning some games."

The Blackhawks jumped out to a 1-0 lead when Michal Handzus found Bickell on a cross-ice pass that Bickell one-timed past Rinne catching the Nashville goalie out of position at 5:31 of the first period. Trotz wasn't happy with defenseman Jonathan Blum's play on the 2-on-1.

"Give our goalie a chance to make a save," Trotz said. "The way he played that he just left Peks out to dry."

Bickell credited Marcus Kruger with starting the play for Chicago, and the result gave him plenty of space to shoot.

"He set both the goalie and the defenseman over to give me the empty net," Bickell said.

Chicago outshot Nashville 10-2 with one of the Predators' rare chances broken up when Blackhawks defenseman Brent Seabrook hooked Nick Spaling on a breakaway chance.

Nashville managed a late flurry, but Emery had a kick save on a Weber shot with 1:05 left in the first.

In the second, Emery stopped David Legwand from in front, got help when a Chicago forward tripped Matt Halischuk at the crease and then the goalie made a stop on Spaling as the Predators spent more time in the offensive zone.

NOTES: Patrick Kane gave Chicago fans a bit of a scare early in the second when he appeared to catch an edge and his knees smashed into the goal post. He skated slowly to the bench before returning. ... Nashville defenseman Hal Gill turned 38 Saturday, and he's the only player over 37 to play for the Predators. He's 18th among active players, having played 1,093 games.